Description
Book SynopsisWhat would the Son-of-Man get up to in present-day Rome? Would he wander the Galleria Borghese, loiter outside nightclubs, ride trams, tip accordionists? How would Keats feel about the neon Dior sign that flashes away above the Spanish Steps? Are there ways to avoid Vespas on the sidewalks? Rules for carving a Pieta? And exactly which painter is responsible for the ugliest Jesus in the history of Western Art? A tour of Rome like no other, the poems of Circus Maximus ask these questions and more. Join David Starkey as he shines a torch on the sights, sounds, mysteries and metaphors of the Eternal City. David Starkey is the former Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara, a senior Fulbright scholar, and a six-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize. His latest volume of poetry is A Few Things You Should Know About the Weasel (Biblioasis, 2010).
Trade Review"In Circus Maximus, David Starkey wanders through contemporary Rome to be arrested time and again by the intensities of vision and faith of its Catholic art. We have here ... moments of the extraordinary hidden within the hurly-burly of the ephemeral everyday. And this he renders with great charm, alertness and silken intelligence." --Irving Feldman "In clean skillfully written stanzas, the poet shows us what he can do with language that is as precise as it is suggestive ... David Starkey is our knowing, reliable, astute guide--not just to the enduring metropolis that is Rome--but to the eternal city of imagination and art." --Kurt Brown "Spiritual yet visceral, aware of the isolation inherent in being human, Starkey reminds us we must live without closure. Yet in this complex collection, 'nothing ever really douses hope.'" --Vivian Shipley "Eloquent, evocative, richly detailed ... a rewarding, memorable read." --David O'Meara
Table of ContentsI. Pinacoteca The Son of Man in the Picture Gallery 7 Judith and Holofernes 9 The Deluge 10 Madonna and Saint Anne 11 Nativity 12 The Ugliest Jesus in the History of Western Art 13 The Baptism of Christ 14 Deposition 15 The Calling of Saint Matthew 16 Allegory of the Discovery of America 17 AVisit to the Vatican Museums 18 i. In the Gallery of Maps ii. Sistine Chapel, July iii. Uscita The Question of Temporality in Renaissance Painting 21 Ecstasy 22 II. Votivo The Son of Man Goes to Church 24 The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa 25 A Primer on Sculpting Pietàs 26 The Triumph of Faith Over Heresy 27 Nuns in Rome 28 Wax Monk in a Glass Box 29 San Callisto 27 Figure on a Marble Sarcophagus 31 In the Capuchin Crypt 32 A Wedding in Santa Maria in Aracoeli 33 Blurry Nighttime Photograph of Saint Peter’s Cathedral 34 At the Beatification of Pope John Paul II 35 Pasquetta 36 Tuesday Afternoon Mass in the Capella Paolina 37 Votive 38 III. Circo Massimo The Son of Man, Peripatetic 40 Palely Loitering 41 Il Cimetero Acattolico di Roma 42 The Italian Man of Letters 43 Ora di Punta 45 Beneath the Ponte Umberto I 46 Tre Osservazioni 47 1. The Consequences of Being Late in Italy 2. Reading The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in a Café on the Via Belsiana 3. To the Birds on Lungotevere dei Mellini Trying to Sing Above the Traffic Noise To the Sycamore Trees Along the Tiber 48 Tiber Stairs 49 The Garbagemen of Rome 50 Fontana di Quattro Fiumi 51 The Rape of Proserpine 52 Spring Comes to Rome 53 Thunderstorm, Piazza Navona 54 Circus Maximus 55 Coda: Le Porte di Corno e Avorio The Gates of Horn and Ivory 57
